Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Times, Seasons & the Thief in the Night: When is the Real New Year?

Every year in the month of January, everyone begins to send wishes to one another by saying“Happy New Year!” But is this really the “New Year” according to our Creator? Should we treat this time as a “New Year?”

We are constantly being confronted with the fact that we are not in control of our own lives, and that our Creator, is the Almighty one, and he is the one who decides when the times, the seasons, and the calendar dates should change.

Daniyel (Daniel) 2:

20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of Elohiym for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:

21 And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

Yahuwshuwa our Messiah is the one who has created all things (Colossians 1:16), and he is the one who has given us the method for which he wants us to divide the day from the night, and the seasons, days, and years:Bereshiyth (Genesis) 1:

14 And Elohiym said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And Elohiym made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And Elohiym set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and Elohiym saw that it was good.

YaHuWaH, our Creator has given us the moon (lesser light) to rule the night, and the sun (greater light) to rule the day.

YaHuWaH Elohiym set things up at creation so that the new calendar date begins at sundown---not at midnight:

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 1:5 And Elohiym called the LIGHT DAY, and the DARKNESS he called NIGHT. And the evening and the morning were the first DAY.

You will notice that our Creator, YaHuWaH separated the period called “day” from the period called “night.” That is why hegave these two twelve-hour periods different names.And so he rendered the “evening” and the “morning” as one complete 12-hour day! The word “evening” in Hebrew is “ereb” which means “sunset, dusk, to mingle” and it is still part of the 12-hour period called “day.” But once the sun goes down, then comes the “night” which is a different word in Hebrew “layil” which means “away from the light” and it also lasts for 12 hours.This means that a new calendar date begins at evening (sundown) according to our Creator. As soon as the light is gone, the calendar-date changes. YaHuWaH separated the light from the darkness and he separated the day-time from the night-time and he did not treat them as one continuous cycle. Our Messiah even told us that a day is only 12 hours---not 24 hours (see John 11:9). The idea of mingling the day with the night and making them as one continuous 24-hour cycle came from Babylon. Babylon was famous for their “mixture” of the set-apart (holy) things with the profane.The word “babel” literally means “confusion.” The idea of a 24-day did not start at creation, it began in Babylon. YaHuWaH, our Creator has always separated the holy from the profane, the light from the darkness, and the day from the night. So while the new calendar date changes at sundown, each new “day” begins at sunrise and ends at sunset. The Hebrew word for “day” (yowm) actually means “to be hot” and so this means that a “yowm” (day) is the light part of the 24-hour cycle. This means that as soon as the sun goes down, that is the end of the “calendar date.”The calendar date does not change at midnight! But who caused the date to change at midnight?

In 1582, the Roman Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar decreed by Pope Gregory XIII. It was at this point, that Pope Gregory caused the new calendar date change at midnight instead of at sundown, and thus he changed Yah’s rendering of times and seasons according to the prophecy about the beast in Daniel 7:23-25. The prophecy states that the “beast shall think to change times and laws....” and this was one of the key identifiers that would cause the the true followers of Messiah to recognize the office of the papacy as the office of the Anti-Messiah (Antichrist).

Pope Gregory also changed the “New Year” back to January 1st just like Julius Caesar had done back in 45 B.C. after the pagan god Janus for which the name January is named. He did this in order to manipulate the calendar so that “Easter” would fall closer to YaHuWaH’s Passover. The Roman Catholic Church would then be able to assimilate the pagan celebration of the Queen of Heaven aka the pagan goddess Easter to our Messiah’s resur-rection. The identity of the pagan goddess from Babylon called the “Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 7 & 44) had been conferred upon the mother of our Messiah (Miryam/Mary), by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 3rd Century. The Catholic Catechism also states that “Mary cooperated in the crucifixion with Christ,” hence they also conclude that she bodily resurrected with him as well! The pagans from ancient Babylon believed that Semiramis (the wife and mother of Nimrod) was also resurrected on Easter Sunday as well (the Vernal Equinox on March 25th). See my other article entitled “The Queen of Heaven: Why Does the Church Celebrate Easter?”

This pagan myth was then carried over into Roman Catholicism and that is why the papacy has continually had to find a way to make Easter fall in the same week as Passover. That is why changing the New Year was important for Pope Gregory.

Back in those days, communication was not advanced like it is today, where news can travel by internet, radio, and television, etc., and so many people in other parts of the world had not been notified of the change. These people continued to celebrate the New Year on April 1st or sometime after the Vernal Equinox which fell around March 25th. This was much closer to the biblical reckoning as we read in Exodus 12:2 & 13:3-4 that the New Year was to begin fourteen days before Passover (in the spring) to commemorate the time when YaHuWaH delivered Yisra’el out of Egyptian bondage. Many Protestants refused to go along with Pope Gregory’s change to the calendar because they did not accept the spiritual authority of the papacy. These Protestants knew what the scriptures teach about when the New Year begins according to our Creator.

And so those who rebelled against the papacy and thus resisted the Gregorian calendar were called “April Fools.” All of this confusion and mixture began with the Roman Emperor Constantine who outlawed the true biblical Passover in the third century and instituted Easter Sunday instead as the supposed day of our Messiah’s resurrection. If the Romans had not rebelled against the Mosaic Law (Towrah) of our Creator, which tells us how to reckon times and seasons, our calendar would not be so messed up to this day.

You see, Easter Sunday is not the true day of our Messiah’s resurrection. Easter was another name for Semiramis (the wife and mother of Nimrod) who supposedly resurrects in the East each year from the underworld (according to pagan mythology). Our Messiah actually resurrected on a biblical feast called First-Fruits (see Leviticus 23:10-11). You can also read my blog entitled:“How Does ‘Good Friday’ Discredit Our Messiah? Can You Count to Three?”

InDaniel 7:23, the angel of YaHuWaH showed Daniel that “the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on earth.” Daniel saw in his vision, that this 4th beast, (which would be the Roman Empire), “shall think to change times and laws” (Daniel 7:25). Daniel’s vision is accurately portrayed in Ferraris’ Ecclesiastical Dictionary:

“The Pope has the power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ. The Pope has the authority and often exercised it, to dispense with the command of Christ.”---Decretal de Translatic Episcop. Cap (The Pope can modify divine law) Ferraris Ecclesiastical Dictionary.”

As for the “times” that were changed by Rome, not only has Rome changed the “time” of the Sabbath, Rome has also been instrumental in changing calendars. The Catholic Church changed the Sabbath to Sunday for the “sun-god” Ba’al (or Mithras) in whom the day of the week “Sun-day” was named after. The excuse that they used for changing the Sabbath to Sunday was that “Jesus” they say “resurrected on the 1st day of the week.” But there is no evidence in scripture that the Apostles or the first century believers changed the Sabbath to Sunday because of Messiah’s resurrection. As a matter of fact, our Messiah did not resurrect on Sunday morning (contrary to popular belief). He actually resurrected on Saturday evening (the 7thday Sabbath) just as the sun was going down. He died on a Wednesday Passover in 30 A.D., according to the record of the Talmud in the account of the “Forty-Year Yowm Kippur Miracle” leading up to the Roman Siege in 70 A.D. However, since the time after Pope Gregory changed the calendar, all previous dates were moved up by one year. To account for these changes to the Gregorian calendar (which would set all previous dates one year ahead), something called “double-dating” was used when recording previous dates in history. Read more about double-dating here at this link:

Our Messiah would therefore have been crucified in 30-31 A.D. because of the discrepancy with the Roman calendars. He was also “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” according toMatthew 12:40. In other words, he was in the heart of the earth (the lowest parts of the earth) for 6-12 hour cycles or a total of 72 hours from the moment that he drew his last breath. This means that he resurrected at the end of the Sabbath as the sun was about to go down. There is therefore no excuse to call Sunday the Sabbath. See my other article entitled: “How Does the Sabbath Day Point to the Resurrection? I Will Raise Him Up at the Last Day.”

The Roman Catholic Church Proudly Boasts of its Rebellion Against the Commandments of YaHuWaH:

“Perhapsthe boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The Holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the Lord’ was chosen, NOT from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the Church’s sense of its own power…People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become Seventh-day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” (Saint Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.)

“Of Course the Catholic Church claims that the change (Saturday Sabbath to Sunday) was her act…And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things.” H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons.

“Sunday is our MARK of authority…the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is the proof of that fact”. ---Catholic Record of London, Ontario Sept 1, 1923.

“Protestants do not realize that by observing Sunday worship instead of Saturday Sabbath, that they accept the authority of the Holy Father of the Church, the Pope.”----Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950.

Rome, the 4th Beast & Changer of Times & Seasons

It should come as no surprise that Rome has consistently been the empire responsible for changing our times, calendars, and holidays. Whether through Caesars or Popes, the way that our Creator has command-ed us to measure time has been systematically altered by only one entity---Rome. This is why the angel revealed to the prophet Daniel inDaniel 7:23-25 that this fourth kingdom would be the one who would change the times and seasons (mowediym) established at creation.Long before the papacy started changing the calendar, times and the seasons, the Caesars were famous for naming the months of the year and the days of the week after themselves or after pagan deities. To this very day, the days of the week on our Western Calendar and some of our months are named after pagan false deities (fallen angels).It is a well-known fact that the month of July was named after Julius Caesar and the month of August was named after Augustus Caesar.At these websites you will find more scholarship showing that the constellations were originally designed by our Creator to testify of Messiah and the Twelve Tribes of Yisra’el:

In the book of Chanowk (Enoch), we learn that YaHuWaH revealed his constellations to Enoch. The constel-lations were named after the 12 Tribes of Yisra’el and they were created to tell the message of salva-tion in the sky. These secrets were later on stolen by the pagan masses in Babylon, Greece and Rome as they began to re-name these constel-lations after pagan deities or fallen angels.These same constellations were spoken of to the patriarch Yowb (Job). This Hebrew word in Job 38:32, Mazzaroth is #4216 in the Strong’s Concordance, and it is translated as Mazzarah. This word literally means: “The 12 signs of the Zodiac and their 36 associated con-stellations.”Yowb (Job)
38:

31 Can you
bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32 Can you bring forth Mazzaroth
in his season? Or can you guide Arcturus with his sons?

33 Know you the ordinances of
heaven? Can you set the dominion thereof in the earth?

*Example: The 6thHebrew Month called “Elul” is the constellation called “Ariel the Lion of Yahuwdah”and is named after the tribe of Judah. But the pagans re-named this “Leo the Lion” instead.

It is for this reason that YaHuWaH commands us not to consult these stars (fallen angels) for divination purposes. We are commanded in the Towrah (Mosaic Law) not to consult your astrological forecast from the Zodiac. YaHuWaH gave these signs to us in the heavens for the sole purpose of illustrating his plan of redemption to Yisra’el and to all of mankind. We are not to consult these stars in order to gain hidden know-ledge about our future. This is an abomination.

Debariym (Deuteronomy) 18:

10 There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.

11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto YHWH: and because of these abominations YHWH your Elohiym does drive them out from before you.

The “stars” represent the angels of YaHuWaH who watch over the 12 Tribes of Yisra’el (Revelation 1:20). But Satan has assigned his fallen angels to persecute the 12 Tribes of Yisra’el. And so when people consult these fallen angels for divination purposes they will end up being deceived, and ultimately destroyed.

Janus the Beginning & the Ending: A Counterfeit Messiah

Most people do not realize that by honoring January 1st as the “New Year” they are inadvertently giving honor to a fallen angel named Janus.

The pagan deity Janus is called by the pagans the “god” of beginnings, and this is why the first month of the pagan Roman calendar has been named after him. It is said that the Roman god Janus has two faces. The first face looking to what lies ahead and the second face looking to what is passing. Janus is and was celebrated by the pagans as the representation of all that is passing and is getting old and “all that is new and yet to come.” Having the month of January named after him by Julius Caesar, he is in paganism the representative of the year that has passed and the year ahead, as the first month of the Julian & Gregorian calendar.

Janus, the god of two faces is celebrated on the pagan solar calendar in New Year’s Eve celebrations and he is honored by the heathen in the passing year on December 21st (the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice).

Their rituals of getting drunk and partaking in orgies, are activities that would ordinarily take place on December 31st, and this is in part the way that the pagans all pay tribute to Janus.

Many people look at the pagan New Year as a time for reflection, which is why Janus’ face is looking to the past and he is said to be older, weathered and wise, at the end of the year. The Catholic Church canonized Januarius as a so-called “saint”in an attempt to redeem pagan deities and make them appear benign. But they are really calling these demons “holy” since the term “saint” in Latin is “santa” which means “holy.” The ghost of St. Januarius to this day is said to appear to faithful Catholics and his dried blood is said to liquefy three times per year when Catholics make a pilgrimage to his see and touch his relics. One of these pilgrimages takes place on December 16th just in time for the month of January when the pagan god Janus is also honored.

Janus is said to be the god honored daily in the celebration of birthdays with the making of wishes and blowing out candles. The greatest tribute to this pagan god was Julius Caesar naming the month of January in tribute to Janus. But then Pope Gregory followed his lead by making January 1stthe official date of the Catholic New Year in the year 1582 A.D.

At this website, we read how the Julian calendar went off course by ten days over time, and it became necessary for Pope Gregory to attempt to make corrections to the calendar.

The Julian CalendarIn 45 B.C.,
Julius Caesar ordered a calendar consisting of twelve months based on a solar
year. This calendar employed a cycle of three years of 365 days, followed
by a year of 366 days (leap year). When first implemented, the “Julian
Calendar”also moved the beginning of the year from March 1 to January 1.
However, following the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, the New
Year was gradually realigned to coincide with Christian festivals until by
the seventh century; Christmas Day marked the beginning of the New Year in many
countries.

By the ninth century, parts of southern Europe began observing
first day of the New Year on March 25thto coincide with
Annunciation Day (the church holiday nine months prior to Christmas celebrating
the Angel Gabriel’s revelation to the Virgin Mary that she was to be the mother
of the Messiah). The last day of the year was March 24th. However,
England did not adopt this change in the beginning of the New Year until late
in the twelfth century.

During the Middle Ages, it became apparent that the Julian leap
year formula had overcompensated for the actual length of a solar year, having
added an extra day every 128 years. However, no adjustments were made to
compensate. By 1582, seasonal equinoxes were falling 10 days “too early,”
and some church holidays, such as Easter, did not always fall in the proper
seasons. In that year, Pope Gregory XIII authorized, and most Roman Catholic
countries adopted, the “Gregorian” or “New Style Calendar.” As part of the
change, ten days were dropped from the month of October, and the formula for
determining leap years was revised so that only years divisible by 400 (e.g.,
1600, 2000) at the end of a century would be leap years. January 1 was
established as the first day of the New Year. Protestant countries, including
England and its colonies, not recognizing the authority of the Pope, continued
to use the Julian calendar.

*Note: as you can see, at one time, the New Year had been celebrated in the spring some time between March 1stand April 1st. Julius Caesar had changed the New Year to January 1stnaming the month after the pagan god Janus. But as time went on, Christians began keeping the New Year in the spring because they believed that the Messiah’s incarnation was on March 25th (Easter) and they believed that his birth was on December 25th (just like Nimrod and Tammuz). But as the Julian calendar went off course by ten days, Pope Gregory changed the New Year back to January 1stagain just like Julius Caesar after the pagan god Janus. Pope Gregory also continued the tradition of honoring the month of January after this so-called Saint Januarius. And thus, Rome continues to display the characteristics of the beast who “changes times and laws.”

Ignorant of the Times & Seasons

In 2nd Keefa (Peter) 3, we are reminded that we should not be “ignorant” concerning the end-times and concerning the words of the prophets of old. Keefa (Peter) calls them scoffers who choose to remain “willingly ignorant” of the times and the seasons (feasts, mowediym) which lead us to end-time events that are yet to come:

2nd Keefa (Peter) 3:

2 That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of YHWH and Saviour:

3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of Elohiym the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Keefa (Peter) is telling us that all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation, but yet there are those who have conformed to the altered calendar of this world, and they choose to be “willingly ignorant”by following the times, seasons, and the calendar rendering of this present world rather than the way that Yah has established things at creation.

Peter continues to use the word “ignorant” one more time in relationship to the fact that we are to under-stand Yah’s rendering of times and seasons. If we do not follow the times and the seasons laid out for us in scripture, when the Day of YaHuWaH comes, he will come as a“thief in the night”for those who are “ignorant:”

2nd Keefa (Peter) 3:

8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with YHWH as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 YHWH is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

10 But the day of YHWH will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The Thief in the Night

In biblical times, when the Second Jewish Temple was standing in Jerusalem, the priests were given a schedule. Each priest had a shift and a rotation where they were instructed to “keep watch” and to make sure that the fire on the altar did not go out. The High Priest (Kohen Gadowl) would come around in the middle of the night to make sure that the priests were doing their job by not allowing the fire on the brazen altar to go out. But if the priest on duty as the “watchman” fell asleep on the job, and he allowed the fire to go out, the High Priest would take hot burning coals and using a shovel, he would scoop up some of the coals and dump them onto the garment of the priest who had fallen asleep! As soon as the garment began to catch on fire, the sleeping servant would immediately wake up from his slumber and he began removing the burning garment from his body to prevent from being burned to death. When the shift was over for all the priests, the one who had fallen asleep was “caught naked” and all of the other priests would know that he had fallen asleep on the job thus causing him to be embarrassed and humiliated. The nick-name given to the High Priest (Kohen Gadowl) was called “the thief in the night!”

And so now we can read this verse inRevelation 16with better understanding:

Chazown (Revelation) 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Yahuwshuwa is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7) who will come to us as a thief in the night only if we are sleeping on the job! But if we are doing our job as a “watch-man” by not allowing the fire to go out in our temples, and we are keeping our garments clean, we will not be found naked and ashamed at his second coming!

Now that we understand this Hebrew Idiom of what the “thief in the night” is, we can get a better understanding of what our beloved Apostle Sha’uwl (Paul) was speaking about to the Congregation at Thessalonica.

Sha’uwl knew that the believers were not ignorant of the “times and seasons,” because they were being taught about YaHuWaH’s rendering of times and seasons from the Towrah (Mosaic Law). Sha’uwl (Paul) knew that keeping the Feasts of YaHuWaH and following His rendering of the appointed times, would keep the body of Messiah “in the light” so that they would not be caught off guard on the “Day of YaHuWaH.” Those who are of the “night” are in darkness and they do not know the time and seasons of his coming.

Yahuwshuwa will return as “a thief in the night” only for those who are in darkness. But for the children of light, he will not come to us as “a thief in the night.” The Apostle Sha’uwl (Paul) in his letter to the Thessalonians uses the term “times & seasons” which pertains to the Holy Feast Days of YaHuWaH. In the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance, the word for “times & seasons” is as follows: #4150mow`ed;moweadah (2nd Chronicles 8:13); an appointment, i.e. afixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally a year; an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congrega-tion; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal as appointed before-hand:--appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) solemnity, synagogue, a set time (appointed).

This word is a singular word for “time” but the plural for this word is “mowediym.” Sha’uwl (Paul) explained that it was not needful to write to these New Covenant believers in Thessalonica about the “times & seasons” or the Feasts of YaHuWaH because they were already keeping them! Each of the seven feasts that we are commanded to keep are represen-ted by “lights” on the menowrah, as the Hebrew word for “day” is yowm which means“light.” And thus, when we are keeping the appointed Feast Days of YaHuWaH, we are“walking in light!” There are also “seven spirits” of YaHuWaH spoken of inIsaiah 11:2, Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, & 5:6. These seven spirits also correlate to these seven feasts: The spirit of YaHuWaH, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understand-ing, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of the fear of YaHuWaH.

In Zechariah 3:9 & Revelation 5:6, these seven spirits are also called the“seven eyes” of YaHuWaH. Aha! Now we know why the Apostle Sha’uwl wrote to these believers in Thessa-lonica and he told them that they are “children of the light, & of the day,” because they were already observing these seven annual feast days! And it is because they were already obser-ving these feasts that he said to them “of the times and seasons, you have no need that I write to you.” Beloved, those who are not keeping the appointed feasts (mowediym) are going to be caught off guard by the thief in the night! 1st Tas’loniqiym (Thessalonians) 5:

1 But of the times and the seasons (feasts, mowediym), brethren, you have no need that I write unto you.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of YHWH so comes as a thief in the night.

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

5 You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

When Does the New Year Begin?

We are now going to learn that there were two calendars instituted by our Creator. The first calendar measures linear time, and it runs its course for 12 months. This calendar was instituted at creation. The second calendar was instituted at the Exodus out of Egypt and this calendar runs its course for seven months and it is for measuring the seven annual Feasts of YaHuWaH. From the beginning of creation, linear time itself was measured starting on Yowm Kippur in the 7thHebrew month known as Tishri (Deuteronomy 15:1). That usually falls around September or October on our Gregorian solar calendar today. How can we be sure that the New Year used to begin in the seventh Hebrew month of Tishri before the first Exodus out of Egypt? We have the record of the Towrah that tells us that the end of the year is at the Feast of Tabernacles:Shemoth (Exodus) 23:16 And the feast of
harvest, the firstfruits of your labours, which you have sown in the field: and
the feast of ingathering,
which is in the end of the year,
when you have gathered in your labours out of the field.

Shemoth (Exodus) 34:22 And you shall
observe the feast of weeks, of the
firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the
feast ofingatheringat
the year’s end.

Debariym (Deuteronomy) 31:10 And Mosheh (Moses) commanded
them, saying, At the endof
every sevenyears, in the solemnity of the year of release, in
the feast of tabernacles.

As you can see, every seventh year (called a shmitta in Hebrew) cycles around on the Feast of Tabernacles. That is why Rabbinic Jews call the 1st day of the 7th month of Tishri “Rosh ha’Shanah” meaning “head” (Rosh) and “the year”(ha’Shanah). They call this the “Civil New Year” because it is based on a 12-month cycle of measuring the “sabbatical years and Jubliee Cycles” (Leviticus 25). And then there is the agricul-tural and spiritual New Year according to Exodus 12:1 &13:4. This is a 7-month year of accounting “seed time and harvest.” And so there is a 7-month year for measuring 7 feasts & the 3 harvests of agriculture (from Abib through Tishri). And then there is also a 12-month year whereby we measure every 7thyear and we let the land rest as a sabbatical year. We are also commanded to hallow every 50thyear on the 10th day of the 7thmonth by sounding the trumpet, and declaring national debt cancellation and freedom for slaves etc. This is to take place on the “Day of Atonement” or “Yowm Kippur.” And so while linear time itself is measured in the 7thmonth of Tishri, YaHuWaH commands us to celebrate “the first month of the year”in the month called Abib (Aviv) to commemorate the time when he delivered the children of Yisra’el out of Mitzrayim (Egypt).

As you can see, according to scripture, the New Year is described in Exodus 12:2 & 13:3-4 as the time when we are commanded to remember our deliverance out of bondage from Egypt and our deliverance from sin at Messiah’s sacrifice as the Passover Lamb. This is 14 days before Passover (Pesach) which usually falls around March or April on the Gregorian calendar. In Leviticus 23:24, we are commanded on the “first day of the seventh month” to have a memorial of blowing trumpets, called “Yowm Teruw’ah” which means “Day of Blowing” aka the Feast of Trumpets. No place in scripture is this feast referred to as “Rosh Ha’Shanah.” The reason why in Judaism they refer to the 1st day of the 7thmonth of Tishri as “Head of the Year,” is because the Feast of Ingathering(Tabernacles) is referred toas the“end of the year” (Exodus 23:16 & 34:22). Thus the period of “seed time and harvest” cycles around at this time of year when Noah’s Ark rested in the seventh month of Tishri (Genesis 8:22).The Jewish Talmud describes in the Mishnah “four New Years.” They refer to Deuteronomy 14:28 as a New Year for animal tithes on the 1st of Elul(August-September). They refer to Leviticus 19:23 as the New Year for trees called Tu’ Bshvat (January-February). They also recognize the first of Abib (Nisan) in March-April as the spiritual New Year for measuring the feasts. And then they refer to the first day of the seventh month as “Head of the Year,” because it is during this 15-day period of the three Fall Feasts, that the harvest is gathered which culminates at the Feast of Ingathering----the end of the agricultural year. What Constitutes a New Moon?

In ancient Yisra’el before the Roman Siege in 70 A.D., the new month was determined by “new moon watchers” who stood on the walls of Jerusalem and they waited for the first crescent moon to appear in the sky. When they spotted the new moon, every 29-30 days, they would report their findings to the Jewish Sanhedrin and then the Sanhedrin would send out couriers to notify the surrounding tribes of Yisra’el that the new month had arrived called “Rosh Chodesh” or “head of the month.”But in the 4th Century however, under the Jewish Council called “Hillel II” the Sanhedrin determined that it was too difficult to keep the times and the seasons according to the “sighted moon” in Yisra’el and so they began using an alternate method of determining a new month based on a Greek Mathe-matician’s calculations. Because, they were in diaspora and they could not site the moon from Jerusalem, a man-made calculation was used to determine the months in the year. Hence, today the calendar used in Judaism is based on the “conjunction moon” (the dark moon) rather than the “sighted moon” which our Creator commands us to keep. In Deuteronomy 16:1, the command he gave is to “observe the month Abib.” The Hebrew word forobserve is shamar, which means “to watch narrowly for, to be a watchman.” The Hebrew word for month is chodesh which literally means new moon. In other words, we are commanded to watch for the new moon! Since 1948 when Yisra’el became a State, there has been no excuse to continue using a pre-fixed calendar, yet the Jewish Sanhedrin has not made a ruling on this matter and so the rest of the known Jewish world goes along with this calendar. See the link below for a more detailed explanation of what constitutes a new moon according to scripture:

After YaHuWaH delivered the children of Yisra’el out of Mitzrayim (Egypt), he wanted us to commemorate the time when he delivered us out of the bondage of sin and death. From that point moving forward, YaHuWaH commanded Mosheh (Moses) and Aharown (Aaron) to begin the year in the 1stmonth called “Abib” or in Modern Hebrew “Aviv” or Nisan.

Shemoth (Exodus) 12:

1 And YHWH spoke unto Mosheh and Aharown in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt) saying,

2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

This was to fall every year 14 days before YaHuWaH’s Passover (Pesach) in the month of the Abib (Aviv). In Nehemiah 2:1 & Esther 3:7, this first month on the Hebrew calendar began to be called “Nisan” while the House of Judah were in Babylonian exile. Today, the rabbinic calendar still uses the Babylonian name of “Nisan” for the month of “Abib.”The word “Abib” in the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance has the following definition:

# 24 ‘abiyb aw-beeb’ from an unused root (meaning to be tender); green, i.e. a young ear of grain; hence, the name of the month Abib or Nisan:--Abib, ear, green ears of corn (not maize).

Every year in Yisra’el, we determine a New Year by three things according toGenesis 1:14-18:the sun, the moon & the stars. We first determine a New Year by the full rotation of the earth around the sun (365 days) which is called a circuit. The Hebrew word for “circuit” in scripture is seen in the Strong’s Concordance as follows:

Here, King Dawiyd (David) speaks of the revolution of the sun each year which is the same Hebrew word “tquwphah:”

Tehilliym (Psalm) 19:6 His
going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it:
and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

Secondly we look for the new moon following the Vernal Equinox (around March 21st- 25th) when the earth has made a full rotation (revolution) around the Sun. But thirdly, we look for the constellation of the Ram over Yisra’el (Aries) because the Ram is symbolic of the first-born son. The Ram was first seen caught in the thickets (Genesis 22:13) when Abraham offered up his first-born son Yitzchaq (Isaac). Our Messiah also became the first-born of every creature (Colossians 1:15) when he resurrected from the dead, and he has given us the right to become first-born sons when we are born-again of incorruptible seed (1stPeter 1:23). When the Ram is seen over Yisra’el, and the first crescent moon appears, then we know that it is the month of Abib (when the barley is green). You can download the Stellarium software below to look for the constellations over Yisra’el which prophetically point to YaHuWaH’s Feasts.

*Note: we are commanded not to use the constellations for fortune-telling and divination according to Deuteronomy 18:10-11. The constellations are to be used only for determining the times and the seasons according to Genesis 1:14.

And then finally when the first ripening of the barley harvest is seen, we can know for sure that the New Year has arrived. We are not supposed to determine our calendar by some fixed pre-determined date that man calculates according to his confused rendering of time. As soon as the barley is “Abib” and the new moon appears following the Vernal Equinox, we can accurately say it is “Rosh ha’Shanah” or the “Head of the Year” according to Yah’s rendering of time:

Shemoth (Exodus) 13:

3 And Mosheh said unto the people, Remember this day, in which you came out from Mitzrayim (Egypt), out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand YHWH brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.

4 This day came you out in the month Abib (Aviv).

Now, some people have written to me questioning my use of the term Vernal Equinox, because the pagans also refer to this time of year as an important time for their sun-god worship rituals. But the dictionary also defines this term for us: Vernal Equinox:

“Either of the two points on the celestial sphere where
the celestial equator intersects the ecliptic; either of the two times each
year (as about March 21 and September 23) when the sun crosses the equator and
day and night are everywhere on earth of approximately equal length.

”

As you can see, this term Equinox is simply a marking point for spring & autumn wherein both times of the year, the day-time and the night-time are of equal length, indicating that the earth has made a full revolution around the sun on the Vernal Equinox in the spring. This is how we know that it is a new solar year. Our creator’s calendar is based off of these three heavenly luminaries created in Genesis 1:14: the sun, the moon and the stars. Therefore, all three witnesses must testify that it is a new year.

Our Heavenly Father is the one who has the authority to “know”the times and the seasons:

Ma’aseh Shlichiym (Acts) 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power.

And so we cannot presumptuously predict the when the New Year begins. It is not determined by the Pope, nor by the Rabbi’s within Judaism, nor by any scientist or astronomer. The times and the seasons are determined by our Heavenly Father who has put these things into his own power, and it is he who has given us the method for which he wants us to measure these times and seasons.

If you are interested in following YaHuWaH’s rendering of “times and seasons” so that you will not be “ignorant” at the day when he returns, then I want to suggest that you order the Biblical calendar here at Michael Rood’s website:

@Sabbath keeper yes the scriptures mention what is called "the Tequfa" (circuit) which is how we know that the earth has made a full rotation around the sun. The word "Equinox" means that there is an equal amount of daylight and an equal amount of night so that we know that the spring is actually here. I used to believe that the barely and the new moon was the "sole witness" for determining a new year but now I no longer believe that because Genesis 1:14 tells us that the "two or three witnesses" are the sun, the moon and the stars (not the barley). The barley is "incidental." This means that the barley will just "so happen" to be ripe during this time, but the barley is not the first witness. The barley is a "4th witness" after we take into consideration the sun, the moon and the stars according to Genesis 1:14. Noah had no way of using barely to determine a new year because he was on a boat. So there had to be a better way of calculating time than just the barley. That is why YaHuWaH already gave us that method in Genesis 1. The barley is just another added witness but it is not the "main" witness to measuring a new year.

How did the Hebrews keep time back then. I have an Iphone app that tells me when sunrise and sunset is and each day is different like today is sunrise is 06:29 AM and Sunset is 06:38 PM so that will be 12:09 for the day and if you go look at the Sunrise and Sunset each day the Sunrise moves far apart from Sunset. Like no the 22 of March Sunrise is 06:27 AM and Sunset is 06:40 PM, So the Day would be 12:13. So you can tell we are getting closer to the sun and farther away from the moon. So dose the Hebrews change their clocks each day?

what a great teaching . You are truly blessed in the knowledge of the Most High Yahuwah. I would like to find the Hebrew Tribe constellation true names. I pray that others who are scoffers find the truth. Be blessed in Yahusha's name Doug White.

I'll assume that these pagan facts are accurate, but having said that, it's also a fact that my God (the only true and living God), is in the redeeming business. As far as pagans and their rituals go, I was one and I had many -- and God redeemed me! The church I attend was once a Go-Go bar -- and God redeemed it! Sunday used to be the day I stayed in bed to recover from Saturday night -- and God redeemed it. Therefore I will not fret over what man as wrought, for God has proven over and over His power and intent to redeem, for His honor and glory.

Genesis 50:20, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

Hi Maria, I just stumbled on your blog through a post from a friend on facebook. This is all very good, I'm just beginning to learn all of this, having an "awakening" of sorts. I am curious, are you Seventh Day Adventist? I noticed one point in the article someone was quoted as saying people should be Seventh Day Adventist..

Diane, no I am not a Seventh Day Adventist. That came from a Catholic Publication where they stated that anyone who wants to keep the Sabbath on the 7th day should become Seventh Day Adventists. They forget that the Jews are the ones who have been keeping the true Sabbath of our Creator long before the Seventh Day Adventists existed. I am a Natzariym Yahuwdiy (Jew). I was not raised Jewish, but I have crossed over and I know follow the "Way" of the Jewish Messiah named Yahuwshuwa (who many call Jesus). Shalom to you, Diane!

Maria, along with this check article I wrote on Times and seasons as far as the biblical New Year. Would love for you to read it. At the end of it I enclose this link because it goes right in line. Shalom always http://heartcheckreality.blogspot.com/2013/03/biblical-new-year-sun-and-moon-times.html

Something recently was brought to my attention that the barley harvest took place in spring also at garden in Gethsame where i believe garden of Eden once was Yashua told his disciples to stay awake which reminded me of the parable of the thief in the night. Rosh Hoshanna is being pointed out as it being head of year but it's not it is at time barley is ripened. The parable of the thief in the night taught us to watch that we don't know day or hour of our visitation. For the parable alone was brought to us to teach us to be watchful for you don't know when the son of man is to be taken away and man of sin is to be revealed. This alluded to Messiah's first coming and death now notice he said those who weren't watchful would began to beat and torture those who were. It was a warning of keeping our garments clean. Yashua death brought meaning to the parable of the watch and importance of his death to why the ripening of the barley is so important to be observed.

I too have checked into and considered the explanation of the New Moon by Mr. Rood, yet I would have to respectfully disagree with his teaching that the beginning of the month 'New Moon' is based upon the sighting of the first 'sliver'. Back in Genesis (Gen 1: 2-5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31) it is stated the world and each 'day' began in darkness, the 'night and the day were #th day' of (re)creation. Just as each 'day' begins at 'sunset' (darkness) so then it would be reasonable to have each month begin at the full darkness of the moon. It is never reasoned, or accepted, by all those who keep the Sabbath that the day begins at the first 'sliver' of the sun; therefore, the month must begin as the moon reaches 'full darkness'. This ‘darkness’ lasts only 2-3 minutes, but the ‘naked eye’ has a very hard time perceiving the change as the luminosity returns. I have researched intensely to clarify the ‘New Moon’ and even asked a co-worker, who is Jewish, about when a month begins on God’s calendar, hearing both sides of the story. But when I read the Genesis account, I can only come to my aforementioned conclusion. The reason why it is so-o-o important is that some of God’s Holy Days will be observed on the wrong day if the New Moon is not calculated properly. One thing that will help clear up this teaching is checking out 119 Ministries’ 3 part series, “Time: Our Creator’s Calendar”. In the 3rd part it is shown when Yashua, our example, observed the Times and Seasons. Maria you are a ‘light that is set upon a hill’ with your teachings, you have explained things in a way that I have not heard anyone else explain them and from a perspective far removed from today’s ‘Churchianity’. May YHWH and Yashua continue to bless you and give you the strength to continue teaching ‘THE TRUTH’.

This is all very interesting and makes good reading of your version of history. I am sure many would disagree with you scholars even for difference of opinions, reference points, interpretation of the bible so I am a bit curious why is this important to Christians who believe that Jesus died for our sins not when he died or the exact day he died and the exact day he rose up. The really important thing he said to Nichodemus - you must be born again or you will not get the essence of why Jesus came in the first place. I consider Sunday the day of rest and most of us Christians have used that day as a day to go to Church. But everyday we worship and praise God because we choose to. Have a think of this , Abram who was a gentile and uncircumcised was chosen by God and he heeded that call and followed God. when God knew that his faith was unlike others he blessed him for our sake. Then later he was told to be circumcised. He had no Sabbath but he had faith - huge faith. You see you worry about trivial things and miss the big picture.